Reflective and non‐reflective antecedents of health‐related behaviour: Exploring the relative contributions of impulsivity and implicit self‐control to the prediction of dietary behaviour

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study (N= 139) explored whether two measures that capture non-reflective processing (viz. a self-report measure of impulsivity and a behavioural measure of implicit self-control) would contribute to the prediction of dietary behaviour over and above cognitive predictors specified by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). METHODS: Four dimensions of impulsivity were measured at Time 1. Implicit self-control was measured at Time 2, alongside TPB predictors relating to the avoidance of high-calorie snacks. At Time 3, participants reported their snacking behaviour over the previous 2 weeks. RESULTS: Results revealed that both impulsivity and implicit self-control significantly contributed to the prediction of snacking behaviour over and above the TPB predictors. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that the predictive utility of models such as the TPB might be augmented by the inclusion of variables that capture non-reflective information processing.